You can tell exactly how many pawns are on this site, and thus the percentage of them, by going to the "Player List," then sorting by "Level." At this very moment, the pawns start near the bottom of the 4th page, meaning there are about 200 non-pawns out of the 5000 or so on this site (that's about 95-96% pawns).

I learned quickly that if I set long time-limits for my games, the number of moves I even get a chance to make each day goes way down. Even with 3-7 day limits, I really can't move very much in any day unless I happen to be online with someone with whom I'm playing.

I am seriously considering joining the site and will recommend that the 3-4 family members with whom I play try BrainKing as well. I'm a member at GoldToken, but not at IYT. My brother is a member over there.

I would encourage anyone who loves playing games on these sites to send a payment, not for the features or for the number of moves, but for the guys who run the sites. I know Chad over at GT is in the same boat as Fencer over here. He has a full-time job and a family. Somehow he manages to spend what seems to be 30 hours per day developing the site and keeping everybody happy. If nothing else, think of it as a donation to chip in for a new server. This site is so good that it will continue to grow indefinitely.

I'm amazed that BK has no advertising and I'm very impressed with the detailed features available here. Supporting something like this site is akin to supporting public radio. People will pay from the heart. The trade-off of limiting nonmembers is that you'll lose a few more potential "site-lovers" right off the bat.

Best of luck to you, Fencer! Thanks for creating a great place to play.

I mistyped earlier. I meant brain knights should be limited to 50 games not brain pawns. My mistake. Then I went checked it out and brainknights already can play 50 games. I apologize for the screwup. LOL

Brian, you suggested "Maybe limit brain rooks 100 games and brain pawns to 50 games just to relieve the stress on the server. " I cant speak for all members but personally I wouldnt have a problem with the 100 game limit, however increasing BrainPawns to 50 would lessen the incentive to become a paying member.

I wont get into the maths (not my strong suit..lol) but whether its 85 or 95% it just goes to show as members we rely on alot of non members for our entertainment here.

Right now BBW it is a what-if thing. However being realistic with all the work that is being put into making the site better limits will be soon I am sure. I think however everyone here should have a say in the potential limits and then some kind of compromise can be reached. Right now it appears that game limits as opposed to move limits seem to be better.

So are the Admin's looking to change what Pawn/Rooks get, or is this just a "what-if" type of thing?

If I had to choose, for Pawn i would allow them to enter 1 tournament a month. Even if the games are over, just let them start a new tournament every 30 days. And then give them say 5-10 non-tournament games. This would solve the problem of pawn trying to join tournaments, and then finding out they don't have enough free space (since it can be as many as 14 games, or smaller - it is hard to guess). No move limit - which I think most people don't like. (Heck if you limit them to 15 like someone suggested, that would mean only 1 non-tournament game!)

For Rooks - Please don't limit them to only 100 games. 200 games maybe, but I would prefer no limit. (One of the main reasons I'm a rook and not a knight)

... those are my thoughts

BBW (BIG BAD WOLF)

I think that all accounts that have been inactive for over 3 months should be deleted to make some more room.

That is true - but even if 4,000 people have active account, and 200 are paid - that is still 95% non-paid. It's hard to tell for sure. :-) Just my guess

BIG BAD WOLF: My question is how many of the over 5000 accounts have been active in the last week. If you look at the player list there are hundreds of players who do not play here anymore.

85% brain-pawns. Well there have been over 5,000 people who have accounts here, and under 200 paid members made a move yesterday. So is around 95% brain pawns is my guess. :-)

What do you think would be a good game limit TTJazzberry? Right now Brain pawns get to play up to 20 games at a time. I could see 15 games. This would reduce some of the strain on the server. Maybe limit brain rooks 100 games and brain pawns to 50 games just to relieve the stress on the server. I know there would be complaints by these paying members. However the new restrictions wouldnt take effect until the current
paying cycle is done. Also give brain pawns 2 weeks to get down to meet the lower game playing limit or forfeit the most recent games to reach the limit. Does that sound fair?

For sure I agree, if they limit moves for non-members then I too get limited when I play them. Limiting the number of games seems to be the better choice.

I also agree that even members should have some limitations in number of games played. Dmitri, your probably not far off with your 85% estimate and I still agree that having a good variety of opponents helps make this site what it is.

I usually try avoiding anyone brain rook on up when looking for a short game to play as they usually have so many games going on already. However I think they need a server that can handle ever increasing volume of growth on this site. However I know this takes money to accomplish and some down time to get the job done. I as a non-paying member dont mind some limitations as long as it is reasonable and fair. The notion that Dream made about only 20 a day will only drive players away. That is the way I view it. Just make it fair and fun for everyone regardless of their level of membership.

actually, I think it is about 85% brain Pawns.

also, I doubt it is the brain pawns who are slowing the site down, but rather, the brain rooks who make 1000 moves a day.

I don't know if it would be a good idea, but it MIGHT be a good idea to limit members to 100 or 200 games.

Dream, if you limit non-paying members to 20 moves a day you end up hurting the paying members as games will last weeks if not months. Also if alienate the non-paying members then they will not pay for a membership or they will just not play. Non-paying members bring new people to the site who can and might pay to be a member. I would venture to say at least half of the players are brain pawns. I would agree to a move limit that reasonable or reduce the number of games you can play at once. Non-members help build the site as well as the paying members. IYT reduced their site moves to 25 a day and people are leaving that site in large numbers and coming here. If they get that way here, you will see that happen here and there are other sites similar to this one. You will then have a lot fewer style of players to choose from to play.

After getting the "sorry the site server is at capacity right now" message three times this morning, perhaps non-members should be restricted to 20 moves a day, this may give the paying members more chance of accessing the site and give the non-members more incentive to pay the much needed membership monies? $2 a week sounds pretty cheap, (it cost me a lot more with the exchange rate) there can't be many things you can buy in the US for $2.

I chose the 100 move limit based on 5 moves per day on 20 games. I normally average about 15 games at a time. SO based on that I would get 6 moves per day on each game but would probabl carry 7 to 10 games at a time if the 100 move limit were implemented so I could make 10 to 15 moves per day on each game which I feel is a good day's work on any game. I feel 60 moves would be a bit low as only averaging 3 moves a day on a game would be a bit slow. Just an opinion. However there are no move limits so the right now the point is moot.

60 would definatly be a good start. Personally I think there should be no daily move restriction and maybe decrease the total games playing at once to 10-15 at a time...just a thought. Anyway my reasoning is that any restrictions placed on non-members should not in any way impact paying members.

I would add that I feel Fencer and the people who assist him do an awesome job in making this a great place to play games. I also commend him on listening to what everyone has to say and trying hard to please everyone, though that is an impossible task as some people will never be happy regardless of what you do. I also am glad to see that the shutdowns on the site have been less over the past week. There have been a few short outages but nothing significant. Great Job Fencer and friends.

I agree, 25 MOVES a day is an Absurd limit, that was a mistake on IYT's part. I think being able to play 15-20 games for free is pretty good, as long as one can actually make the moves for those games! with IYT's system, a person can play 20 games, but only make 1.25 moves per game? that's crazy. if he makes 6 extra moves by mistake, he has to forfeit. that is nonsense. At the veyr least, one should be able to make 3 moves per day per game, which would be 60. If 60 it too many,m then the number of games should be reduced to fit the reduction in moves.

I agree Brian, I was a paying member at IYT some time ago. Not long after Pat threw move restrictions for non paying members. The pace of my games with them suffered as a result, I felt this policy hurt the paying member as well. That is not what I paid for and subsequently let my membership lapse.

Thankx Harley
but I'm still not getting it,I guess I'll just have to get some one to look at the problem from this side.

As for the paying/non-paying Members your all right,My wife has a paid Membership here and I have one on another site and it give us a chance to meet and play other people,but as for what we can and can not have I think we all should just make do with what we've got and be Happy with it.

Fencer/Filip YOU ARE one of the best.

We've all here have said it or at least most of us have,so here it is again HIP HIP HOORAH to Fencer and all those involved with this site and it progress.

PS
You will always have mine and my wife personal thanks for your hard work making BrainKing a site we can come to,as well as being part of your FAMILY.

Again THANK YOU

Edward John Davidson
NightHawk

I have been reading this string about Members and non-members. I agree that members should have benefits that non-paying members dont have. However I think members should have their own board. Members are the only ones who can belong to fellowships and play in multiple tournaments. Also members can play more games at a time than the non-paying members. So if you are really an addict to playing the games and you have time to play a lot then you should pay for a membership.

For me personally, right now with the downturn in the economic market of the USA, I am unemployed. I lost my apartment and was forced to move back home as i am also in debt. I can barely afford to buy groceries for myself right now. I cannot afford to throw away 2 bucks a month on a game site. I have the time right now to play but when I start working fulltime again, my time will be limited and a membership will be a waste for me as I will not be able to take the time to make it worthwhile. If Fencer wants to put more restrictions on non-paying members, that is fine. He is in this for fun and to make a profit. That is good business. However I would encourage him to make the site friendly to those who cant pay. ItsYourTurn.com has made it less friendly as they have cut daily moves to 25 a day. this means I no longe play in their tournaments and dont play more than a couple of games at a time there. I dont know how many people could finish a game in just 25 moves. So if Fencer decides to put limits on moves at some point, let me make a suggestion. I know this makes some paying members crazy, but I think a fair limit would be 100 moves in a day. I am one of those non-paying members that can deal with some limitations.

Your right, $2/mo isnt much for those that have it. I guess what I was saying is there are alot of people in alot of different social classes economicly. Some may feel they live on too little as it is so cant justify another $2/mo to play online games when thats $2/mo less that can go toward the family getting by.

I also know people on here who dont join for other reasons but they too contribute in many other ways and in doing so helps make this site one I became a member.

As for the board...I doubt I'll use the new board much because I dont have anything to say that I'd rather non-members not see, but I dont have anything against it being there for others to use.

... and what is forgotten is there are already a lot of member only boards (Fellowship boards) - I'm not sure how this new board will help...... it is now just another board to add to my long favourites list....

Since there is a new members board can you talk about anything you want...I know that's what the general chat board is but I'm just wondering about the members only board...good day everyone :)

I think most of what TTJazzberry said makes sense. BUt, there is only ONE members only board being created, all theo thers are open to everyone, so I don;t see the harm.

ALso, I do not bleieve for one second that there is ANYONE ALIVE who plays games that cannot afford 2 dollars a month. Remmember, "not wanting to pay two dollars am onth" and "not being able to afford" two dollars amo nth are very different. I ahve met lots of people who say "I can't afford this or that" and then I watch them pay: 1 dollar for a soda. 5 dolalrs for cigarettes. 8 dollars for a movie. 3 dollars for s rental movie. etc. etc. etc. ....


have I met every person on the planet? no, of course not. But I am willing to bet that no one who claism to not be able to afford the membership is really that destitute. they wopuld rather just do soemthing else with that two dollars a month.

I personally see nothing wrong with non-members making suggestions, it is their way of contributing to the site and many suggestions have been to my liking, so as a member I benefit.

At this point 6 of my 7 games are against non-members, again as a member the ability to play both members and non-members benefits me.

Another thing we should consider before getting self-rightious is the fact that some people simply can not afford to join, what may seem like a little to some may be alot to others. The ability to play against them, exchange idea's on the boards with them and benefit from their suggestions are just a few important factors in my decision to become a member.

I agree there should be some benefits for members only as incentive to join, but idea's like boards for members only serves to rob me of the chance to exchange idea's and thoughts with members and non-members alike. As a member I want my thoughts and contributions to the threads accessable to the whole community, not just paying members.

Tony, I think that p[eople simply like to get something for nothing, so thye will do so whenever they can; and they can always come up with SOME reason or another why they are not completely satisfied yet and why they are not "yet" becoming a paying member.
I am of the opinion that giving the pawns MORE features will make them LESS invclined to pay, but what do I know about running a business (nothing).

Dmitri, what feature would attract non-members so much that they would have to pay the cash? I would have thought that entering only one tourney at a time would have done the trick - but not so! Any ideas?

Rose-- "I see many non members asking for features etc (all input is great) but always getting so much for free defeats his purpose of wanting to make a living off this site and make it the best site out there!
Likley there will be talk of discrimination againt no members but thats easily rectified.
Just buy a membership! :-)"

Right on! I have asid this many times myself. NOw, I underatsnd that people want to try soemthing out before decideing to purchase it. BUtm Fencer gives the non-member PLENTY, easily enough for them to decideif they want a membership or not. But instead, some of the pawns seem to want various minute details changed to their liking. I wonder if they will be mailing in a membership fee as soon as said changes are made?

Fencer has added a members only board.(Add it to your favourits all you members!)
I thought it would be a great idea to have one for a few reasons.
One for members to discuss the site and add ideas and also as an incentive for non paying members who want to be included in the happenings of the site to purchase a membership to help Filip out.
I see many non members asking for features etc (all input is great) but always getting so much for free defeats his purpose of wanting to make a living off this site and make it the best site out there!
Likley there will be talk of discrimination againt no members but thats easily rectified.
Just buy a membership! :-)

Thanks Fencer, and three cheers for liquid for such dedication! :)

blaze: Okay, I will try to make it wider.
About connectivity - that's good because Liquid spent almost the whole night by tuning the database server ;-)

I don't know if Fencer will read this, necessarily. You will be much safer to send him a personal message, as he does read those :-)

Fencer, the new dropdown menu system on submitting moves is good. General feeling is that it would be beneficial if the move button was wider however. It's more difficult to aim the mouse at the smaller button (particularly for people using 1024 x 768 screen definition) and the feelings of people I have spoken to are that a button of similar width to the original button would be easier to manoeuvre. The dropdown menu is cool.

Would it take much to widen the move button?

Blaze

BTW, connectivity seems way better tonight. No downtime here!

Dream-- the last time there was a site outage 9two days ago, I believe, for almost an entire day, I noticed that games that would have timed out during the outage did not time out. So maybe Fencer has made it to that the clock stops during outages.

all I ask for is for the time clock to be turned off when the site is experiencing problems, this would make all of our lives easier, including Fencer's who must be tired of reinstating games. People who do have limited time to play (and we do exist!) shouldn't have to feel like we have to dive for the computer at every spare moment to try and log in and catch up...Personally I don't care if I get extra membership days...I would just like to be able to play when I have the time and not to have to worry about timing out if the site is experiencing problems, (which has been 5 out of 7 days in the past week for me anyway)

its not just you dream ive got the same problem (aswell as loads of others i know) its hard work trying to move this last week i work 12 hour shifts and play when im at home some days i cant even log onto this site at all and when i do like today it can take forever to make any moves if i dont get fed up of waiting first
wonder if the paying members will get some days back ???

i do think this is a great site but at the moment its just giving me a headache .. sorry fencer..
i just have withdrawals from not being able to play my games

A huge Thank You to Fencer for creating and now updating the BrainKing info Pages.

BrainKing Info now has 5 informative pages: News, Technical Info, Company Info, Known Bugs and a Support Us page.

Information there is a true indication of what a great site this is, so please take a look and I'm sure you will all join me in thanking Fencer for keeping us so well informed!

Blaze

NightHawk, you shouldn't need to restart your PC, its not a major change. Hope this message is in time! LOL! You must be in a different time zone to me, I was in bed when you posted your last message!

to those it applies to of course:) and expectant mothers are included LOL

Jet Boy: There will be a relatively small "move" button, and to the right of it will be a list box with 5 selections. When you move, it will do what is selected in the list box ;-)

DONT BE OFFENDED



A girl asks her boyfriend to come over Friday night and have dinner with her parents. This being a big event, the girl tells her boyfriend that after dinner, she would like to go out and "do it" for the first time.

Well, the boy is ecstatic, but he has never done it before, so he takes a trip to the pharmacist to get some protection. The pharmacist helps
the boy for about an hour. He tells the boy everything there is to know about protection and doing it.

At the register, the pharmacist asks the boy how many he'd like to buy; a 3-pack, a 10-pack, or a family pack. The boy insists on the family
pack because he thinks he will be very busy, it being his first time and all.

That night, the boy shows up at the girl's parent's house and meets his girlfriend at the door. "Oh I'm so excited for you to meet my
parents, come on in." The boy goes inside and is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents are seated. The boy quickly offers to say grace and bows his head. A minute passes, and the boy still deep in prayer with his head
down.

Ten minutes pass and still no movement from the boy.

Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over and whispers to her boyfriend, "I had no idea you were so religious."

The boy turns and whispers back, "I had no idea your father was a pharmacist."

:o)

I'm in a tourney game of parachute checkers, and I make my move, but there is no submit button on it...I've refreshed, gone away and came back, and it's my only legal move, but no submit button...What can I do?

I did thankx Harley,now should i shut down and restart my computer????????????

lol look at zetes ;-)

eddie: With 371 games going, you're probably one of the noodliest. :)

And I thought I was hooked on games.

lovelysharon ... Thankyou :-) I looked everywhere but there !! knew I'd seen it somewhere ! :-)

Some GREAT news in life for once.

Just had a message from cariad, Panda gave birth to twins a short while ago, all is fine & they are all are healthy. :-)))

Bumble's plane should be arriving home now & then they are all off to the hospital.

I hope you will all join me in wish them all well & the best for the future.

(best start to think about the next 2 bumble lol)

Good Luck
MadMonkey

I have no other problems with other sites, just this one, it finally loaded this morning, very slowly, from what others are saying, perhaps I have having problems as the times I can play just happen to be the busiest times of day for the site.